Machine for stripping and cleaning peanuts



(No Model.

. T. E. HOFFMAN.

MACHINE FOR STRIPPING AND CLEANING PEANUTS.

Patented Jan. 28, 1896.

@554 1 I Y j inmis u 0 III INVENTOR Z rnaru,

WITNESSES:

Arrormns UNTTED STATES ATENT. FICE THOMAS E. HOFFMAN, OF ORANGEBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA.

MACHINE FOR STRIPPING AND CLEANING PEANUTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent-No. 553,527, dated January 28, 1896.

Serial No. 548,917. (No model.)

Applioation filed May 11, 1895.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, THOMAS E. HOFFMAN, of Oran geburg, in the county of Oran geburg, State of South Carolina, have invented an Improved Machine for Stripping and Cleaning Peanuts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved machine for stripping or picking peanuts from the vines and subsequently cleaning or polishing said peanuts, the vines being fed out at one end of the machine, while the peanuts are collected in a bag or other suitable receptacle.

As a rule peanuts are turned up from the earth by a plow or other suitable implement and allowed to dry upon the field. After being so dried the vines are collected and the peanuts stripped or picked therefrom. This operation is generally accomplished by hand, which consumes a great deal of time, labor, and isvcry tedious.

The object of my invention is to avoid hand operation and provide a machine which will thoroughly and efficiently strip or pick the peanuts from the vines, then clean and polish the same, separate the chaff and dirt from the peanuts and then collect the peanuts so cleansed in a suitable receptacle.

WVith these and such other objects in view as will appear hereinafter my invention consists in the peculiar construction of the various elements and of the novel manner of arranging or combining said elements, all of which will be fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side View of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is aview taken from the opposite side. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a detail top plan view, and Fig. 5 is a detail view .of a portion of the machine.

In constructing a machine according to my invention I employ a suitable frame A, in which is arranged a case B, containing the operative parts of my improved machine. This case B comprises the side board, I), and the top board or table, 1). The vertical guide-boards O O are arranged upon the top of the table, said boards converging rearwardly, and at their rear ends are connected by means of a stop-board C.

At the rear end of the table, and directly beneath the stop-board O, are journaled a pair of cold-rolled steel stripping-rollers D D, revolving in opposite directions, and directly to the rear of the stripping-rollers is a pair of feed-rollers E E, said rollers D and E being journaled in sectional boxes F F,which boxes are made to yield vertically a limited amount, and in practice I have found that amovement of one-eighth of an inch is sufficient distance to allow the top roller, D, to move.

The vines with the peanuts attached are fed along the table, and as a leaf or stalk comes in contact with the rollers D it is immediately passed through and gripped by the feed-rollers E, which being much larger and having frictional surfaces adapted to bind closely upon the leaves and stalks, the vine is forcibly drawn through between the rollers D and E, and as the peanuts come into contact with the rollers D they are immediately stripped, picked or detached from the vine, because the rollers D are so small, have small polished surfaces, and are so close together as to prevent the peanuts passing therebetween, and in practice Ihave found that with the arrangement above described the peanuts will be severed from the vine at the proper time and even the stem of said peanuts detached therefrom.

Directly in front of the stripping-rollers an opening G is made in the table to permit the peanuts to drop down within the case, and for the purpose of cleaning and polishing said peanuts I provide a concave H, carrying bristles or brushes H upon its interior surface, and revolving in said concave is a cylinder I, also provided with bristles or brushes 1.

An inclined board K directs the vines into the concave, and said cylinder, revolving in the direction indicated by the arrow, carries the nuts around with it and subjects them to a brushing and polishing operation, whereby all the dirt, &c., are removed from the nut.

The front board L is arranged within the case and in connection with a short strip L forms a spout or discharge-entrance from the concave chamber, and below this spout or discharge-openin g is arranged an inclined delivery-chute M, but it will be observed that there is an intervening space between the ends of the strips L and L and the deliverychute, and opposite said space is arranged the discharge-spout N or the fan-blower N, the purpose of said blower being to blow away or separate the dirt, chaff, uc. from the peanuts as they drop from the concave-chamber to the delivery chute, the dirt, chaff, &c., being blown out at the end of the machine, while the nuts drop down into the chute and are bagged, as before described.

The chute M may be constructed in any suitable manner, but in practice I prefer to form the same with solid sides m and the slatted bottom m, so that in case any dirt or chaff should cling to the nut after being subjected to the brushing and blowing processes it may be separated from said nut in its passage down the chute, and if so separated will drop out through the bottom of the chute, while the nut continues to the end of the same.

In order to operate the stripping and feed ing rolls, and also the cylinder and fan, I employ one main driving or counter shaft P, the rotary fan or blower being arranged upon said shaft intermediate its ends. This shaft P derives its power from anysuitable source, and near one end, upon the exterior of the case, are arranged three pulleys R, R, and R These pulleys are substantially of the same diameter. A belt S is driven by the pulley R and passes over a pulley T, mounted upon the end of the lower feed-roll, D. A crossbelt S is driven by the pulley R and passes over a pulley T, mounted upon the end of the upper feed-roll, E, and a belt S is driven by the pulley R and travels over a pulley T mounted upon the end of the cylinder-shaft.

Near the opposite end of the counter-shaft are arranged two pulleys V and V, which are substantially of the same diameter as the pulleys R R, before referred to. The pulley V drives a crossbelt XV, operating a pulley X, mounted upon the end of the upper feed-roll, and the pulley V operates a belt XV, driving a pulley X, mounted upon the end of the lower-feed-roll shaft. By this form of gearing all of the parts act in unison, and as the belts travel all at the same rate of speed the movements will be uniform, and as the diameter of the strip-rolls are only about one-third the diameter of the feed-rolls I construct the pulleys upon the ends of their shafts onethird the diameter of the feed'roll pulleys.

The

up in any part of the field or in awarehouse and the counter-shaft driven by any suitable power. The vines with the nuts thereon are then placed upon the table and fed toward the stripping-rolls. A leaf or stalk upon coming into contact with the stripping-rolls passes rapidly therethrough as soon as the feed-rolls contact therewith. The vine is drawn forcibly through the two sets of rolls, and as the peanuts come in contact with the strippingrolls they are stripped from the vine and drop through the opening in the table and into the concave-chamber, where they are subjected to a brushing, cleaning, or polishing opera tion by the cylinder and concave, provided with bristles or brushes. The nuts after bein g so treated escape from the concave-chamber and drop into the delivery-chute; but in passing through the concave-chamber to the delivery-chute they are subjected to an airblast from the rotary fan or blower, which has the effect of blowing away all the dirt or chaff separated from the peanuts by means of the cylinder and concave. The peanuts are led by the delivery-chute into the bag or other suitable receptacle, and are thus stripped and cleaned at one operation ready for bagging.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with the main frame or case, of the table having an opening at the rear end, the metallic stripping rolls, the feed rolls, the stop board, the cylinder and concave, the fan blower and sectional discharge spout, the power shaft upon which the fan is mounted, and the belts driven from said shaft, and operating the feed and stripping rolls, and the cylinder, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS E. HOFFMAN.

\Vitnesses:

J. A. RILEY, CHAS. E. BROOK. 

